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Parents of Taxi Crash Victim Hope She Is "On Her Way to Recovery"

The parents of the woman whose leg was severed when she was hit by a taxi in midtown said in a statement Thursday that they hope she is on her way to recovery, and thanked those who helped her after the crash. Roseanne Colletti reports. (Published Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013)

The parents of the woman whose leg was severed when she was hit by a taxi in midtown Manhattan said in a statement Thursday that they hope she is on her way to recovery, and thanked those who helped her after the crash.

Jason and Sonia Green thanked David Justino, the plumber who used his belt as a tourniquet on Sian Green’s leg after she was struck Tuesday, and TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was also on scene because his office is nearby.

"We hope Sian will soon be on her way to recovery and will be able to personally thank all the kind people of New York City," the parents said.

Green's left leg was amputated below the knee after the accident, according to Dr. Spiros G. Frangos, director of the the surgical intensive care unit at Bellevue Hospital. Frangos said the leg was too badly damaged for replantation.

The family of the woman whose foot was severed when she was hit by a taxi in midtown Manhattan is heading to New York to be with her as she recovers. Roseanne Colletti reports.

(Published Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013)

Green's right leg was also wounded deeply in several places, said Frangos. The cuts were cleaned and repaired, and Green "will likely regain most functionality with time and physical therapy."

Witnesses told NBC 4 New York that 24-year-old Mohammad Himon’s cab swerved to avoid a bike messenger when it ran up on the curb at 49th Street and Sixth Avenue on Tuesday and hit Green, who had just arrived in New York City for vacation.

Justino and other people nearby jumped into action after the crash in the busy plaza. A halal food vendor put the 23-year-old’s severed leg on ice in a cooler. Oz arrived on the scene after Justino applied the tourniquet.

A taxicab that swerved to avoid hitting a bicyclist struck a British tourist, severing her leg, before jumping a curb in busy midtown Manhattan, witnesses said. Watch Dr. Oz and a bystander, David Justino, talk about what they saw and did.

(Published Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013)

"These collisions and accidents take some time to reconstruct, so that investigation is still going forward," he said. The driver has received summonses not related to the crash, and the investigation "is certainly not closed as of yet," Kelly said.

The driver and the bicyclist, who suffered minor injuries, were given alcohol breath tests at the scene and neither tested positive, a law enforcement official told NBC 4 New York.